Wall fixture



Feb. 3, 1942. Q Q SIMS 2,271,928

WALL FIXTURE File d Aug. 17, 1938 Patented Feb. 3, 1942 .VUNITED s'rarss r TENT OFFICE New York Application August .17, 1638, Serial No. 225,383; 3' Claims. (01. 248 -224) This invention relates to fixtures and is concerned more particularly with the securement of a fixture to a wall or other support.

It is an object of my invention toprovide a.

wall fixture adapted to be supported in such a manner as to completely shield the supporting means. I

It is another object of the invention to provide a fixtureand support construction affording increased anchorage for a given wall-engaging fixture area.

A. further object resides in the provision of a fixture and support construction affording maximum anchorage in a minimum space, and in which the means for securement is completely shielded. i

A further object is to provide a multi-part-fixture adapted to be assembled in a plurality of relations for enabling the fixture to be mounted with a given axis thereof extending in any of a plurality of directions. 7

. Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

The invention may be better understood upon reference to the following description and claims and the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary vertical sectional View showing a fixture mounted on a wall in accordance with my invention, taken as indicated by the line in Fig. 4.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the fixture of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but shows also the relation thereof with the wall bracket in the process of mounting the fixture on thebracket.

Fig. 4 is a rear sectional view taken as indicated by line 4-4 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional plan view fied form of the invention.

Fig. 9 is an isometric view of a bracket to which the fixture of Fig. 8' is adapted to be arr-"- chored.

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary section-elevation of a fixture such as thatshown in Fig. 8 mounted on an anchoring member such as that shown in Fig. 9.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, there is shown at a fixture preferably having. a hollow base 22,..the. rim 23 of which is preferably unbroken and preferably lies in..a single plane for engagement throughout with a wall 25. The fixture 20 may be die-cast or formed in any, other suitable manner and is preferably formed with opposed lugs 21 from which project rivetingstuds 28, shown in dotted lines in, Fig. 5.

studs 28. In assembling the plate withthe fixture '26, said studs are projected through the openings 33 and the studs are then headed :over,

to form rivets35 whereby the plate and fixture are integrally united. The-plate and fixture may be united in any other suitable manner but it is. preferred that they be secured in such a manner that the exposed surface of the fixture is not marred.- so that'said surfacemay be easily chrome' plated or otherwise finished. 1

extending away from the body of the fixture 20 and arranged to present a dovetail appearance both when viewed in elevation, as in 'Fig. 2, and in plan, as in Fig. 5.

Further in accordance with my invention I provide an anchoring member or bracket which may take the form of a plate having pairs of tongues 46 and 41, said pairs being spaced apart a distance 'slightlygreater than the length I of the tongues 4|, the tongues 46 and 41 projectingl away from-the wall 25, and,'both in plan. (Fig. 3) and in elevation (Fig. 5) having a dovetail appearance. The plate 45 is adapted to be secured to the wall 25 by any' suitable means 1 such as screws 48., The tongues 40 arespaced from tongues 4| a distance slightly greater than the length of the tongues46.

'The tongues 46 and 41 project from the back I face 50 of the plate 45 a distance which is greater than the distance to which the tongues 40 and 4| project from the exposed face 5| of the plate 36. In fastening the fixture 20 to the wall 25,

the fixture is held with the open side of its base facing the wall and at such'an elevation that thetongues 46 of the wallybracket are substantially aligned with the spaces between'the tongues 46 The fixture 20 is then shoved downward, so that the tongues 46 are received between the tongues 4|).and the tongues 41 are received between the tongues 4|, ,as'shown in Figs. 1, 4 and 5. Since the coasting. platesare. concealed during this procedure, the initial alignment of parts may not be correct, and in such event the correct alignment may be obtained in a moment or two merely by shifting the fixture slightly and noting the relation by the sense of touch, as will be apparent to anyone. The fixture is shoved down as far as it will go, and becomes tightly wedged both longitudinally and transversely with the bracket 45.

The plates may be made of any suitable material such as sheet metal, and the tongues thereof are preferably rigid but may be somewhat resilient to enhance the grip therebetween.

When the parts are securely wedged together, the rim 23 of the base 22 is tightly engaged with the wall 25, and is urged toward the wall in response to the wedging pressure.

Thus the entire fastening means are shielded from view and nothing is exposed except the fixture itself. By spacing the tongues longitudinally, I obtain a grip which is more secure and dependable than would be the case if the tongues were extended and continuous, because a high spot on either of the wedging elements would destroy the efiicacy of the connection. Another advantage of the separated tongue construction is that a relatively narrow longitudinal space is needed within which to execute all movements necessary to securely wedge the parts together. If the tongues 4| were joined to the tongues 40 and the tongues 41 were joined to tongues 46, it would be necessary to enlarge the base of the fixture or to cut out the lower part of the rim of the base of the fixture in order to allow space for the bracket 45 to be received below the lower ends of the lower fixture tongues in order to allow the full length of the plate 45 to pass between the tongues of the fixture.

In case it is desired to mount the fixture, having a service or ornamental part 60, in a different position,for example, at right angles to the position shown in Fig. l, as shown in Fig. 7the fixture may be correspondingly arranged relative to the plate 30. To this end the plate 30 has other holes 56 adapted to accommodate the fixture studs 23, which are then headed as at 51. Thus, with the bracket 45 disposed as shown in Fig. l, the tongues on the respective plates cooperate as above described, and the fixture is secured in the same manner upon being moved in the direction of the arrow 61 in Fig. 7.

A further modified form of the invention is shown in Figs. 8, 9 and 10. In this form, the mounting plate 65 hasholes 66 and is riveted as at 61 in any suitable manner, as, for example, that shown in Fig. 1, and is formed between said ears with slots 68. An anchoring or wall bracket 10 for cooperation with the plate 65 is provided with tongues 'H which are inclined away from the body of the plate 10 and are spaced apart in conformity with the spacing of the slots 66. The plate 'Hl may be fastened to a wall 25 in any suitable manner as by means of screws 13, preferably with the tongues ll vertically aligned, and the fixture is shoved against the wall in a position enclosing the plate 10 and so that the tongues ll are received in the slots 68. As in the form of the invention above described, due to the inability of the operator to see the plate It, he will be able to fit the tongues in the openings by the sense of touch and this will take but a moment. The plate 65 is preferably spaced from the base 23 of the rim 22 of the fixture a distance substantially greater than the thickness of the plate 65 and the upper part 15 of the fixture rim is preferably so spaced from the adjacent end of the plate 10, that when the tongues H have been received in the slots 66 and the fixture 20 is shoved downward, the plate 65 will become securely wedged against the tongues II and, except for this wedging engagement, the movement of the fixture into place will not be interfered with by the plate 10. The tongues H are preferably quite stiff and yet may be somewhat resilient in order to exert a clamping force upon the rim 22 in its engagement with the wall 25.

In case it is desired to have the fixture axis extend at an angle,say, a right angle-to that shown, the plate 10 may be mounted on the fixture body at a right angle to the position referred to above and the plate 65 may be correspondingly mounted on the fixture 20 by securing the rivets 61 through the holes 17 thereof, instead of the holes 66.

The parts 65 and 1B are preferably made of sheet metal but may be made of any other suitable material as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

It is evident that by obvious changes the fixture may be formed and arranged to extend in any desired direction-without altering the manner of mounting the same.

Although I have described and illustrated my invention with the rim of the fixture engaged with the wall, this is not necessary, since even with the anchoring plate 45 or 10, as the case may be, mounted free of any wall the wedging action is such as to securely connect the fixture to the anchoring bracket.

The arrangement of tongues may be reversed as to the plates 30 and 45, and the plates 65 and 10, Without departing from the principles of the invention.

Numerous other arrangements coming within the spirit of my invention Will doubtless occur to those skilled in the art, and hence I do not intend to be restricted to the specific embodiments herein shown and described, but intend that the scope of 'my invention shall be limited only by the appended claims, which are to be interpreted as broadly as the state of the art will permit.

I claim:

1. A fixture construction comprising a body having two pairs of tongues, the tongues of each pair being inclined outwardly and toward each other, each tongue of each pair being aligned with a tongue of the other pair, the directions of' said alignments being divergent, providing in effect a socket which is dovetailed in two directions and which has spaced socket portions, an anchoring member, means securing said member to a support, said member having two pairs of tongues complemental to the aforesaid pairs of tongues, the tongues of each of the second mentioned pairs being inclined away from said support and from each other, the more closely spaced pair of tongues of said member having a length which is less than the distance between the pairs of tongues of said body, and the relatively widely spaced tongues of said body being of less length than the distance between the pairs of tongues of said member, the tongues of said member being 50 arranged that they may be slipped first transversely to the wider entrances to said socket portions and then longitudinally in said socket to securely wedge the tongues of said member and said openings being so arranged that different pairs of said openings are selectively within the tongues of said body, at least some of said tongues being resilient to enhance the Wedging action.

2. A fixture body comprising a utility member adapted to be mounted on and occupy any one of a plurality of positions relative to a support, a mounting member having means for connecting said mounting member to said support, and means for securing said mounting member in any of a plurality of positions on said utility member, said means comprising a pair of deformable studs integral with one of said members and openings in the other member to receive said studs before deformation, the number of openings being in excess of the number of studs adapted to receive said studs.

3. A fixture body comprising a utility member adapted to be mounted on and occupy any one of a plurality of positions relative to a support, a mountingmember having means for connecting said mounting member to said support, and

deformable stud means on one of said members, the other member having a plurality of recesses for receiving said stud means in different relative positions for securing said mounting member in any of a plurality of positions on said utility member.

CLARK D. SIMS. 

